Influence of Knowledge on Compliance to Childhood Immunization Schedule among Caregivers of Children aged 0-23 Months in Informal Settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya

Childhood immunization has played a big role in universal child survival; over the years immunization has been used to eradicate infectious communicable illnesses and also in the control of epidemics and outbreaks in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. With most health initiative researches in Kenya focusing on rural areas, Informal settlements have always been overlooked when it comes to health improvement efforts by stakeholders. The study objective was: To establish the influence of level of knowledge on compliance to childhood immunization schedule among caregivers of children 0 � 23 months in informal settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study site was Viwandani and Mukuru kwa Njenga slums in Nairobi County, Kenya. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was administered. The study design was a descriptive cross-sectional research design. Cronbach�s Alpha was used for reliability testing; the sample size was 323. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS.22 while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that 91.8 % of respondents had taken their children for immunization. Only 67.8 % of the respondents knew the age at which vaccination was to start. Only 73.2 % of respondents could mention diseases prevented by immunization. Most caregivers 56 % got information on immunization from healthcare workers. The test of independence at significance level of 0.01 results showed that level of knowledge (R� = 0.033, df = 1, p